Obama Praises Cairo Uprising, Bolton Calls Him ‘Weak’

Obama praises the Egyptian uprising, its military and Mubarak’s departure. Bolton bashes the president as “weak and apologetic about our country.”

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Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu, 13/02/11 13:25 | updated: 14:20

President Obama

White House

Potential Republican party presidential candidate John Bolton has bashed President Barack Obama for having lauded the Egyptian uprising and praising its military for not shooting protesters.

Obama complimented the Egyptian military, which now runs the government, for having “served patriotically and responsibly as a caretaker to the state and will now have to ensure a transition that is credible in the eyes of the Egyptian people."

Bolton sharply criticized the president. “We do not accept an American president who is weak, indecisive and apologetic about our country," he told the Conservative Political Action Conference on Saturday. Bolton is a former American ambassador to the United Nations.

He warned that the departure of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak may make Americans less safe because of the possibility that the Muslim Brotherhood will fill the power vacuum in Egypt. He referred to previous democratic actions that led to regimes ruled by Nazis, Hizbullah and Hamas.

Bolton charged President Obama with paving a "road to disaster,” and suggested that the president has been "hesitant, inconsistent, confused and just plain wrong" since the Egyptian uprising began two weeks ago.

Obama vowed that the United States will continue to see Egypt as a "friend and partner” and will “stand ready to provide whatever assistance is necessary, and asked for, to pursue a credible transition to a democracy.”